Treading Water
by TheLostRelic
Summary: Nico had always been a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, that is, up until "The Incident"; now he's become asocial, misanthropic, and bitter. But what happens when he is forced to help the doppelganger of the one he loved most? And when their unlikely friendship turns into something more, will it finally help him heal and move on or will it break what little is left of him? Nico/OC
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Before**

Nico Di Angelo triumphantly placed the final Mythomagic card on the table, a self-satisfied smirk sliding across his face. His opponent, a chubby ginger boy with a terrible case of acne, contorted his face in agony as though Nico had stabbed him in the chest.

"Marcus, I'm going to ask, and I'm only going to ask once..." Nico whispered leaning over the table so that he looked like he was confiding a dark secret to his opponent. The chubby boy, Marcus, looked at him curiously before nodding slowly to tell Nico to proceed.

"Who... IS YOUR DADDY?!" Nico trumpeted, starting quietly and dramatically before exploding with verve.

Marcus dramatically collapsed back in his chair, covering his eyes as he groaned in disappointment. Nico chuckled joyously, mentally applauding himself for thinking of something so clever.

_Yup, old bean, you have truly outdone yourself._ He thought to himself smugly.

The store's doorbell tinkled and in walked an olive skinned girl with luscious brown hair and hazel green eyes. She was clearly older than the two other boys, probably around fifteen or sixteen years old, but she conducted herself shyly almost. The girl walked up to Nico and shoved her large black glasses back up her nose while Marcus gaped at her like she was an angel who had descended from the heavens. With trembling hands, Marcus attempted to slick back his messy red hair as Nico shot him a smirk.

To really screw with Marcus, Nico pulled the girl down and kissed her cheek loudly causing the poor chubby boy to nearly fall into conniptions. Nico burst out laughing riotously at the expression on Marcus's face as the girl swatted Nico away and scowled at him before softening and ruffling his hair fondly.

"Time to leave little bro. Mom's waiting outside." She said and Marcus visibly relaxed.

"Umm yeah sure, I'll just pack up and meet you outside Bianca-" Nico began before Marcus interjected.

"So this beautiful woman's name is Bianca? It's an absolute pleasure to meet you." Marcus gushed causing Nico to wrinkle his nose in disgust as Bianca stifled a giggle.

"That's sweet of you, but I don't date." Bianca said politely and Marcus hung his head in shame.

"Be out in five." Bianca commanded and Nico shook his head in affirmation.

The second she left, Nico jabbed Marcus's flabby stomach causing the other boy to jerk involuntarily before massaging the affected area.

"Ouch! What in the world was that for?" He demanded.

"_That's_ for hitting on my older sister when I am sitting right in front you!" Nico raged and the chubby ginger boy quivered under the intensity of his gaze. The manner in which Nico's amber eyes turned blood red when he became angry caused almost anyone to tremble in fear, and valiant Marcus was no exception.

"Dude, chill..." Marcus stammered as Nico began to collect his cards and put them in an old tin box. Nico shot him a malevolent glare from the corner of his eyes causing poor Marcus to sweat even more profusely than he had been before.

Nico finally shoved his tin box into his black backpack before sliding his chair back and drawing himself to full height, and to Marcus, he seemed suddenly taller.

"Don't ever let me catch you hitting on my sister again or I will personally castrate you." Nico said darkly before his demeanor visibly brightened.

"Well, I'll see you later buddy!" Nico called back cheerily as he waltzed out of the toy store leaving poor Marcus wondering just what the hell happened.

**After**

"Mr. Di Angelo, I will not ask again, kindly pay attention!" Mr. Hall barked at the inert boy who was lying with his head down on his desk.

Nico tilted his head up ever so slightly so that his fiery eyes would be visible from beneath the curtain of shaggy black hair that rested on his head. The amber eyes burned with an almost manic intensity that forced Mr. Hall to shiver slightly before abandoning his efforts.

A couple of classmates snickered at the interaction that just took place, but when Nico swiveled his head to shoot them a glare, they instantly shut up and hung their heads to avoid his eyes. With a smirk, Nico turned his head and buried it in the crook of his elbow again, just wanting the day to end.

Hell, Nico didn't just want the day to end, he wanted _everything_ to end. There wasn't much of a point to it at all so it was better to just end, than hurtle towards that end inevitably; it would save some time at the very least.

That wasn't what Nico really wanted though. After all, there is no point in wanting something that you are inevitably going to get. No, Nico wasn't entirely sure what he wanted anymore. Well, that was a lie; there was something that he wanted more than anything else in the world, but it was impossible so he wasn't going to dwell on it.

Bringing people back from the dead was never going to happen, so there was no point in pining after that.

The rest of the class period passed by without a hitch and when the bell rang, Nico accompanied the other students as they scraped their chairs back and left, some more eager than others. Most people rushed out, eager to get ahead in the lunch line, but Nico just wandered to the lunch room purely out of social convention; it wasn't like he was going to eat anything anyways.

As he walked over to a table that caught his eye, the students scrambled from it nervously as though staying there with him would cause them to spontaneously combust.

Nico acted like the occurrence before him was common place as he slid into a chair with practiced ease. He pulled up two more chairs; one for his backpack and the other for his feet. He fished his black iPhone from his jeans pocket and plugged in his ear phones. After cranking the music up so loudly the people three tables from him could hear, he leaned his head back and shut his eyes, nodding to the blaring music.

This way he wouldn't have to hear the whispered accusations and invisible jabs hurled in his direction. Not that he cared anyways, but he found it easier to control his temper when he couldn't hear the things that made him angry.

"-heard he got kicked out-"

"-police involved-"

"-did drugs-"

"-never the same after-"

"-on the news for weeks-"

He was blissfully ignorant to all those remarks, and that was a good thing too because most of the perpetrators would probably be taking a one way trip to the hospital if he had heard them. No one with any common sense would ever talk about Nico Di Angelo and his story if they valued their lives; literally. Nico immersed himself in the dark, twisted lyrics of the song he was listening to, drowning out the world around him.

_Cherishing, those feelings pleasuring,  
__Cover me, unwanted clemency,  
Scream till there's silence,  
Scream while there's life left, vanishing,  
Scream from the pleasure, unmask your desire-  
_

Suddenly, the headphones were yanked out of his ears causing Nico's head to snap upwards. Standing behind him was the most popular kid in school and the only one that didn't seem to get the memo entitled, "Leave Nico Alone If You Enjoy Breathing."

"Shit dude, these are some fucked up lyrics." Ryan Shore whistled from behind him.

Nico turned in his chair to see him wearing a smirk as he showed his friends Nico's iTune's library. The goons guffawed as their leader flicked through his playlists, causing his blood to boil inside his veins.

"God Hates Us, Buried Alive, Animal I Have Become, Getting Away With Murder. Damn, what's with these titles man? We need to introduce you to some real music - get some Jay-Z and Kanye into your system. You know '99 problems, but a bitch ain't one.' That kind of stuff." Ryan said disdainfully, still looking at the iPhone screen screen.

Nico tried to quell his rage which was rearing its head like a levithianic monster rising from the deep. "I want my phone back. Then I want you to walk away. Simple enough?" Nico spat out, and the blond looked up at him for the first time since he accosted him.

A malicious smirk slid across his face as Ryan handed the iPhone to one of his cronies and wheeled around to fully face Nico. Ryan was built like an MMA fighter and that was because in addition to playing football, he was also a bare knuckle boxer in the school's underground fight club.

"Oh yeah? Make me." Ryan stated defiantly, rolling his neck in anticipation.

With a weary glance, Nico noticed that the entire lunch room had gone stock still. This was the fight that everyone had been expecting since day one when the two had first butted heads. It was a miracle that they had made it through an entire quarter and a half without fighting.

Nico didn't like delaying the inevitable, but he would rather not take on this pompous brat in front of the whole school. At least, not unless he had to. It wasn't like Nico couldn't take him either; he just wasn't worth the effort.

Instead of standing up to confront him, Nico lounged leisurely in his chair but flicked out his pocket knife, maneuvering it deftly with his fingers. The knife danced around Nico's finger tips with almost unnatural control and speed. It was all a display designed to scare Ryan senseless. No matter how strong the guy was, if Nico had a knife with him, he would end up severely injured and Nico would walk away without as much as a scratch.

Nico then stabbed the knife into the plastic of the lunch table and lazily glanced at Ryan who was visibly paler now. Wordlessly, Nico held his palm out expectantly and within seconds, his iPhone was back in his grasp. With a smug smirk, Nico removed his knife and pocketed it before condescendingly shooing Ryan and his squad of brainless oafs away in the opposite direction. For once, Ryan was smart enough to back down from the fight.

Once he left, Nico cast a challenging glance around the lunch room which forced the rest of the student body to resume their normal activities. Content that things were back in equilibrium, Nico turned once again to surrender to his music, but before he could, a very angry Principle Fillmore tapped his shoulder. Nico glanced at him unhappily, silently asking him to speak.

"Office. Now." He barked and with reluctance, Nico slid out of his chair and followed him.

Within minutes, Nico sank into the chair in front of Mr. Fillmore's desk with an air of boredom about him. His lips tugged upwards in a provocative smirk, a typical look for him.

"What can I do for you Filly?" He asked lazily, inspecting one of his finger nails.

Nico watched smugly as the principal twitched in anger and then rolled back his leaves. The principal leant forward, causing his tie to hang suspended over the desk, making it seem like a reverse noose positioned towards the ground rather than the ceiling. Nico found that just a tad bit amusing, but he held his peace.

The principal, a graying elderly man used to receiving cheek from his students, was not at all amused with Nico's antics. He had seen his fair share of delinquents and to him, Nico Di Angelo was no exception; just another troubled kid that hated the world because it wasn't turning the way he had asked it to. The selfishness and naivety of today's generation disgusted the wizened man to no end.

"Look you little brat, I have been principal at this school for longer than you have lived and you will address me with respect." Fillmore barked and the smirk never left Nico's face, much to his disdain.

"Not until you've earned it Filly." Nico mocked and Principal Fillmore had half a mind to put the boy in detention for long, his grandkids would have to bury him in a classroom. With some visible effort on the principals end, much to Nico's delight, he forced himself to be calmer.

"Bringing weapons on school property is against school policy. You could be expelled." He stated, staring at Nico grimly, itching to kick the brat out of his school.

"Actually you can't, Second Amendment of the American _Fucking_ Constitution: I have the right to bear arms. Constitutionality trumps school policy any day and the fact that this 'premier institution' is a private school doesn't give you the right to detain me or whatever the hell this is." Nico fired back belligerently.

The principal smiled wryly at the arrogance of the boy before him. "Oh, think you're a genius because you can cite the constitution? Then you'll know when Madison framed it that he used the words 'well regulated militia' and that means that you don't have that right seeing as you are neither well regulated or a member of the militia, so turn over the weapon, son." He demanded and Nico glared at him insolently.

With a huff, Nico reached into his pocket and handed the man the knife. Principle Fillmore put the knife in a drawer before looking at Nico, wondering what his sentence would be. The boy needed to be taught a lesson in responsibility and humility so suspending or expelling him wouldn't teach him anything.

Principal Fillmore sighed and rubbed his forehead before speaking. "By all rights, you should be expelled on the spot for bringing that knife in, but I won't. At least, I will give you a choice. We are having a new student here tomorrow and I don't have a student guide for her. If you are willing to help her out for the first month that she's here, I will forget your suspension and just give you detention for a month." He stated and Nico looked at him dismally.

"I'll take detention for two months, but I am not helping the girl. She can get lost for all I care." Nico mumbled and the principal sighed yet again.

"Not an option. Expulsion or the girl. Your call." He repeated and Nico stared balefully, before sighing wearily.

"Fine. I'll help her out, but only for a month." Nico warned and the principal nodded in agreement.

"Only a month." He echoed and Nico stood up.

"Meet her in here tomorrow morning." The principal called out as Nico left the room, lazily waving goodbye as he did.

* * *

The next morning, Nico walked through the swath of students, making his way inside as the cold winter chill bit away at him. He wrapped his black peacoat a little more tightly to warm himself more. He wished he could have been at the beaches in South Italy where he and his family went every summer before "The Incident" with the warmth of the sun and spray of salty ocean on his lithe frame.

Shaking his head, he attempted to dispel his thoughts as he finally passed through the school doors. Such thoughts wouldn't do him any good, only make him hurt even more deeply.

As Nico walked to the front office, the students parted before him like they were the Red Sea and he was Moses. It didn't disturb him any - in fact he liked being alone and feared. He was a misanthrope in every sense of the word so anything that didn't have to do with people was excellent.

With a barely stifled yawn, Nico opened the door and walked in with an air of disdainful nonchalance. He looked around the office for the girl he was supposed to be assisting but only saw a scrawny freshman, slinking in his chair to avoid Nico's probing gaze. Nico cast his glance towards the principals office and saw a blond girl seated there nodding politely at Fillmore's words.

The receptionist noticed his line of sight and spoke. "She's in there with the principal for now. She will be out in a moment." Ms. Lancaster said warmly and Nico actually smiled at her. She was one of the only people in the school that he could tolerate and she was always very accepting and non-judgmental of him.

"Thanks, Ms. Lancaster. I'll just take a seat until she's done, I suppose." He stated before plopping next to the freshman who was positively squirming with fear.

Nico cast him an annoyed glance. "I'm not going to eat you. Sit up straight." He demanded, but the boy shook even more violently. Turning away, Nico muttered darkly under his breath about stupid cowardly boys.

Even though he was only a sophomore, Nico demanded the respect of the entire school; student body, faculty, the whole works. He was an intimidating guy to say the least, usually dressed in black or grays, occasionally white but never in color, his appearance was generally very foreboding. His skin, once bronze and healthy looking, was now as pale as paper and about just as lifeless. His midnight black hair hooded his face ominously and he just generally looked like a corpse. Only his eyes, a smoldering amber color, gave him any appearance of vitality.

Contrary to common belief, Nico didn't drink or have piercings or wear eye liner or makeup. No he dressed as naturally and minimally as possible, not even paying any attention to the clothes he threw on his body in the morning. As long as they were clean, he honestly didn't mind. His frame was muscular in a lithe, deadly way yet alluring, adding to his overall appeal.

He heard what the girls said about him at school. Even though he was a rather asocial individual, that didn't stop them from calling him "hot" or "sexy" or his favorite, "a really hot zombie version of Ringo Starr." To be honest, he kind of did look like Ringo from back in 1964, only more menacing and uninviting.

Nico tugged impatiently at the hem of his white vintage Rolling Stones T-Shirt as he waited for the new girl to come out. His fingers drummed out an erratic beat over the black plastic of the chair he was sitting on. He huffed and strands of his hair blew out of his face.

Finally, the door opened and the principal walked ahead of the girl, effectively hiding her from his view. When he finally did step out of the way, Nico's heart stopped in his chest and only self control prevented him from screaming and tearing his hair out. With great difficulty, he established some degree of composure but his jaw clenched tightly.

"Alexa Baker, meet your student guide, Nicolas Di Angelo. Nicolas this is Alexa, treat her properly and show her around school. You're going to have the same classes to make things easier for the both of you. Any questions? Good." Principal Fillmore stated, leaving before pausing for an answer to his question.

As Nico stared at the girl in front of him, only one thought ran through his head.

_Shit. _

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is my fourth story and it's all Nico. It's going to be just as dark as my other ones, but there will be things that make it considerably lighter. All chapters until midway through the story will be written in this format - Before "The Incident" at the start, and after at the end. I hope you like it and as always: Follow, Favorite, and Review!**


	2. Doppelganger

**Doppelganger**

**Before**

"Aww! Thanks Aunt Arty!" Bianca said, admiring the bow before her.

Aunt Artemis stood behind the sofa and watched her niece with amusement, smiling into her tea cup. Bianca managed to extract the arrows and quiver from the excess wrapping paper that adorned the large box and stared with adoration.

"Merry Christmas! It's a yew bow, not those cheater composite bows they use these days. That, my favorite niece, is the real deal. I hand crafted that myself." Artemis said with pride evident in her voice.

She smiled when little ten year old Bianca stared at her with wide eyes. Bianca redirected her gaze to the bow in her hands once again, but now she appeared to be looking at it in an entirely new light.

"So do you like it, kiddo?" Artemis asked kindly.

Bianca stared at her aunt incredulously. "_Like_ it? I _love_ it! Thank you so much! You are the best aunt ever!" She cried out before running and hugging Artemis tightly around the waist.

The older woman chuckled to herself, rubbing her niece's head affectionately and filled with a profound sense of joy. Maria Di Angelo, Bianca's mother, watched the scene with a large grin and held a camera in her hands. Her sister met her eyes and they both looked at each other happily, glad to have been able to make a sweet girl like Bianca so happy.

Nico looked up at the scene and had to resist the temptation to gag, but even his seven year old brain couldn't help but feel a sense of elation at his sister's joy. Bianca rarely allowed herself to feel happy about anything, so it was refreshing to see her like this. He was always the happy jokester in the family, not Bianca.

"Come on, let's go outside and try for some target practice." Artemis said, beginning to lead Bianca outside.

Bianca sped outside and reveled in the soft warmth of the Nevadan sun during the winter time. There wasn't any snow where they lived, so conditions for archery were always optimal.

Artemis watched carefully as her niece took position behind a well worn mark dug into the grass about fifty meters away from a large round target. With a steady breath, Bianca nocked an arrow and drew it back, causing the string to go taut and build with tension. She gently shut one eye and scoped out her target before letting the arrow sail, embedding itself a foot away from the bull's eye.

She lowered her bow and looked her aunt with disappointment, but Artemis merely smiled warmly at her instead.

"Pretty good for your first shot with a new bow." Artemis remarked, to which her niece shrugged nonchalantly.

"I guess..." She said unconvincedly.

"Keep in mind that you still have to break it in. Soon, you'll be hitting the center of the bull's eye every single time. You'll see." Artemis pointed out and Bianca allowed herself a small smile.

Maria and her son watched the entire scene unfold with smiles of their own. Bianca was something of an archery fanatic; ever since she read about the Goddess Artemis and her immortal Huntresses, she became obsessed with archery. Her first bow and arrow was one of those cheap knock offs that you could easily obtain at a super market. You know, one of those tiny plastic bows with suction cup arrows?

Bianca worshipped that set and would set up elaborate targets within the confines of her room. More often than not, you would find her inside her room, sticking targets with her cheap suction cup arrows.

Maria initially thought that her daughter's new past time was merely a phase that she would grow out of, but her dedication didn't waver over the course of two years and she continued to get better and better. Soon, the bow became far too small and she pleaded with her to buy her a new one, but Maria had no knowledge of bows.

Thankfully, her sister was something of an expert and hence, the Christmas present. This was Bianca's first real archery set and both Nico and Maria could see that Bianca was going to be archery crazy for the next few months.

Maria ruffled her son's hair affectionately before turning back inside, calling everyone in for cookies. Nico raced to the kitchen island and eagerly stuffed his face full of his mother's Christmas cookies. A short while later, Artemis came back in and helped herself to a few, but Bianca was nowhere to be found.

When Artemis saw her nephew craning his head, trying to look for his sister, she smiled to herself. "She's still outside practicing." She said and Nico turned to her in surprise.

"How did you know what I was thinking about? Are you an alien psychic from another planet?" He asked curiously, eyes growing wider with every word, almost like he was speaking with absolute conviction.

Artemis laughed at his antics and ruffled his hair, causing him to frown. "No, I am not an alien psychic. I just know you well, kiddo." She said, but Nico didn't look like he was convinced, however she turned to speak with his mother before he could finish his interrogation.

With a huff, he decided to bring some cookies out for his sister. He selected the ones shaped like doves; those were her favorite. Nico balanced a tray of the dove shaped cookies and walked outside.

To his surprise, Bianca was shooting even closer and closer to the bulls eye, her face screwed up with single-minded concentration. Suddenly, she nocked one arrow particularly quickly, so that her hand moved in a seamless blur, and without any hesitation she loosed it. She smiled smugly to herself when it embedded itself dead center of the target, and jumped in surprise when Nico began to clap loudly.

"Wow! That is so cool, Bi!" He stated, his voice filled with admiration.

Bianca raced over to her little brother and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Thanks Nic! What are these?" She asked, gesturing to the cookies.

"Ceblatory cookies!" Nico proclaimed proudly causing Bianca to giggle.

"_Celebratory_ cookies, little monster. Thanks though." She corrected before helping herself to one.

"I brought you your favorite ones: the birds." He said and Bianca ruffled his hair appreciatively.

He huffed loudly and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why does everyone do that to me?" He demanded and his sister smiled.

"Just because we can, little monster." She said in that special voice she reserved for "Big Sister" moments like these.

Nico grimaced, but softened at the use of his nickname. Bianca always called him Little Monster because when he was younger, he used to pretend that he was a monster that terrified invisible citizens in major cities. Sometimes he was Godzilla in Japan, and other times he was King Kong in New York. Once, when Bianca caught him at play, she gave him that moniker. He hoped that she would stop using it when he grew older, otherwise it would make him die of embarrassment.

"Want me to show you how to shoot?" Bianca asked, her mouth full of cookie.

Nico smirked and shook his head. "Nah, shooting is your thing. I am much better with the sword!" He exclaimed, producing a brand new pocket knife, his Christmas present from his Aunt Artemis.

Bianca regarded the knife wearily, hoping that he wouldn't poke both their eyes out. "Be careful with that thing, will ya?" She said and Nico put the knife away, but not before huffing dramatically.

She stood up and dusted her hands off, expelling any excess crumbs that might have lingered on her palms, before ruffling Nico's hair again causing him to scowl indignantly. "You should get Aunt Arty to teach you how to use that thing. You don't want to accidentally stab your eye out." Bianca said, looking down at her little brother.

"Yeah! You think that she'll give me lessons?" He asked eagerly.

"Of course! Who could resist this adorable little face." She teased, pulling on his cheeks, causing him to scowl yet again.

With that Nico raced back into the house and Bianca turned back to her bow. She nocked another arrow and let it sail towards the target, but not before taking a deep calming breath.

**After**

_Oh, you have got to be kidding me..._ Nico thought to himself, studying this newcomer, Alexa Baker.

It was official - The universe proved with finality that it hated Nico Di Angelo.

Nico studied the girl before him as an ever growing sense of dread blossomed in his stomach before circulating throughout the rest of his body.

She was like a perfect copy of Bianca, only her complete opposite. That didn't make much sense. To clarify, her build, facial structure and expression, skin tone, and height mimicked Bianca to the letter, but all of her physical features were almost exactly contrasting with Bianca's.

Whereas Bianca had luscious, straight glossy black hair, this girl had wavy, honey blond hair. Bianca had warm hazel colored eyes, but Alexa had pale blue eyes that glistened like ice. His sister always jittered nervously, never looking people in the eyes, but Alexa stared into Nico's eyes with such open intensity, it might have been interpreted to be rude.

"Nice to meet you Nicolas." The girl said in a polite, breezy voice that was a frighteningly similar to how Bianca spoke. They both had the type of soft spoken voice that made you strain to catch their words, but their timbre was very pleasant and almost musical to hear.

"Nico." Nico stated bluntly, a tinge of annoyance coloring his words, as he extended his hand forward to meet hers.

"_Nicolas_." She stressed deliberately, her pale blue eyes glinting mischievously.

In response, Nico glared at her with his smoldering amber eyes, clearly displeased with her. He was not at all in the mood to deal with some smart ass girl first thing in the morning, especially when she happened to look like a carbon copy of his older sister.

Inadvertently, he shivered when their hands came into contact and he noticed that Alexa also jumped slightly. It was like a spark of electricity had coursed between both their bodies, and it made Nico worry. He rubbed his now sweaty palms against the fabric of his jeans when they released each others hands.

Principal Fillmore observed their interaction carefully, never having seen Nico act this jumpy in all of his time here. Of course, he knew a little of Nico's backstory so he figured that this new girl must somehow relate to what happened when he lived in Nevada. Suddenly, he worried that he had made some horrible mistake. Nico was prone to lash out or become violent when his past was raised, and if this girl seemed to spark some connection to it, this might not end well for anyone.

He came out of his musings when he noticed both students staring up at him expectantly. The old man cleared his throat and motioned with his hands to shoo them away and to get to class. With a turn of his heels, he walked quickly back into his office before he could second guess his decision.

After Principal Fillmore left, both the students turned to face each other and the atmosphere quickly became awkward. Nico drummed his fingers against the strap of his backpack, staring intently at Alexa, while she adjusted and readjusted the strap of her satchel, keeping her gaze solely on the ground. When Nico cleared his throat, Alexa looked up at him expectantly and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Class. We should get to it." Nico said inarticulately and Alexa smirked.

"English. You speak it poorly." Alexa mimicked causing Nico to scowl before turning away and walking out the door with Alexa at his heels.

She followed Nico with growing curiosity when the student body went silent as he approached. They all moved up flat against either side of the hallway as though close proximity to him spelled instant death. Instead of feeling apprehensive, Alexa just felt more intrigued with the strange boy walking ahead of her.

He walked with a sense of careless finality, like he was walking in no set direction and didn't particularly care about his destination, but with a sense of purpose that made him seem like a man with a plan.

Alexa tried not to admire his appearance, scolding herself for thinking so shallowly.

_But he is pretty good looking... _She thought dryly to herself. _Just an observation, not a judgment. _She added, even though no one could hear her thoughts.

It was pretty undeniable - Nico Di Angelo was attractive in that "Troubled Guy That Doesn't Give a Damn" kind of way. Normally, that sense of melodrama would have made Alexa want to fake vomit, but Nico pulled it off in a way that no other guy ever could. It was _almost_ like it wasn't an act for him, but rather his actual lifestyle.

She didn't miss the longing yet terrified glances that many of the girls sent his way as they walked in silence. Nico, however, either didn't seem to notice or didn't really care. Alexa didn't know which of the two it was, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was a mix of both.

Nico stopped suddenly and gazed at the frozen student body as though noticing their stillness for the first time. "What's wrong? Never seen a guy walk before? Move along." He barked out and quickly everyone struggled to exude a sense of normalcy.

Alexa smirked when he met her gaze. "Gee, you are a ball of kindness, aren't you?" She proclaimed sarcastically.

One fiery amber eye met hers as he turned his head. "Was, not are." He said cryptically before walking along his way, not waiting for her response.

"Hey wait!" Alexa called out indignantly, weaving through the sea of students.

Eventually, she finally caught up with Nico, slightly breathless and when Nico shot her a smirk, she glared at him. Nico stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked very nonchalant and laid back which contrasted to his usual demeanor. It occurred to Alexa that Nico wasn't always as angry at the world as he was now; in fact, there was a very good chance that he would have been a very easy going guy had they met sometime different. She wondered what upset him so much to change his personality so drastically.

"So what brings you to Bar Harbor, Maine? Particularly, Westover Hall? I know that it isn't for the weather." Nico asked, still facing forward.

"Tennis." Alexa said simply, her voice suddenly becoming strained, but Nico didn't notice.

Nico turned to her with an incredulous expression on his face. "So let me get this straight: You came to _Maine_ to play tennis? You are aware that this place is like the Siberia of the United States, right?" He droned sardonically and Alexa's jaw clenched tighter.

"Mind your own business." She said stiffly causing Nico to laugh harshly.

"My my, we got a feisty one here, don't we? What's got your knickers in a knot, Prom Queen?" He asked, still as sarcastically as before.

"Prom Queen?" Alexa scoffed, trying to change the subject.

"You seem like one of those girls. You know: perfect girl, perfect world? Anyhow, don't change the subject." Nico stated.

Alexa wheeled around in front of him, stopping him in place. He cocked an eyebrow up, looking at her judgmentally. She clenched and unclenched her fists as she glared at Nico when a humorless smile crossed his face.

"Well, don't just stand there, huffing and puffing - Spit it out!" Nico demanded.

"I don't have to tell _you_ anything, so back off." Alexa exploded and Nico smiled wryly.

"Likewise. Now as long as we don't bother each other about our problems, we're going to get along famously. I am so glad to finally meet someone that's got something to hide." Nico proclaimed, but Alexa didn't like what he seemed to be implying.

"Okay, A. There is no 'we' - there's just you and I; separate people, and B. I don't have anything to hide. I am just not comfortable sharing things with a complete stranger." She stated, raising a finger as she made each point.

Nico shrugged. "Whatever you say, Prom Queen."

"Don't call me that!" She snapped.

"Why?" He asked innocently.

"You know perfectly well why!" She raged. Nico noted with dry amusement that she used her hands to gesture about as she grew more animated or angrier.

Nico smirked at her. "No, I really don't have a clue." He said, continuing to play dumb.

Alexa's pale complexion turned a pleasing shade of violet. "Because it annoys me!" She shouted and Nico smiled even more widely.

"Then it's settled..." He said and Alexa breathed a sigh of relief.

"Definitely keeping the nickname." He said with a cheeky grin before Alexa swatted the back of his head angrily.

As Nico winced and rubbed the back of his head, he was struck with the realization that she had done what Bianca would have done to him when she was exasperated with him. The thought made his chest constrict painfully with melancholy.

Alexa stormed away, muttering foul words under her breath, and as Nico ran after her, he heard glimpses of what she was saying which amused him greatly.

"Arrogant, self-centered, pompous, jerk! Thinks that he freaking owns the place. The nerve of some self-absorbed airheads! I'll show him 'Prom Queen'!" She grumbled darkly and Nico chuckled, startling her.

When he realized that she had noticed him, he smiled, genuinely this time. "Good to know that you know your way around insults. More that we have in common." He explained and Alexa regarded him suspiciously.

"For the last time: there is no _we_." She proclaimed, making a circular motion with her finger tips to indicate that she was referring to the both of them.

Nico held his hands up in surrender and continued to smile. "Whatever makes you happy, Prom Queen." He chortled and Alexa thought she was going to wring his neck right then and there, but instead she forced a sickly sweet smile on her face.

"Glad to know that you take my feelings into account, _Nicolas_." She said and delighted when his face lost whatever color it initially had.

"Don't call me that." He snarled, his hand twitching with annoyance.

"Why?" Alexa asked innocently, still using that same poisoned honey tone.

"Are we really doing this?" Nico demanded angrily and she felt a sense of triumph.

"Whatever makes you happy, _Nicolas_..." She trailed off, letting his name hang in the air.

With great struggle, Nico managed to reign in his emotions and put on a mask of indifference. Without any warning, he continued walking, not really caring whether Alexa followed or not.

Alexa bit her lip as she watched him leave. As much as she hated to admit it, there was no way she would ever find her class on time without him - the school was far too huge. She puffed her cheeks out and exhaled through her mouth before chasing after him.

* * *

_The indoor training facility was empty. Just how Alexa wanted it to be._

_She breathed calmly before lifting her racket up and assuming a basic tennis stance, her feet about arms length apart. The machine whirred to life and spat a ball out at incredible speed. Alexa didn't even hesitate when she rallied the ball back with perfect control, watching with smug satisfaction as it hit the far right corner, right above the line. _

_Soon, more balls were directed her way and with practiced ease, she returned all of them. Her form and technique were impeccable as each ball landed precisely where she wanted. However, things went awry when the machine began spitting the balls out with increasing frequency. She paled when she caught on, but it was too late. Her body went into over drive and she returned them without even thinking, but the strain and effort was now suddenly very obvious. _

_A ball somehow flew above shoulder height and when she instinctively brought her arm up to smash, a sudden spark of debilitating pain shot through her shoulder like a crackle of electricity. With a loud scream, she pitched forward and landed roughly onto her knees, clutching her shoulder in agony. Her slender frame trembled violently. _

_She jolted when a strong hand wrapped around her torso and pulled her up. Feeling very vulnerable, she weakly swatted the hand away and was shocked to see Nico standing before her with an expression of understanding and caring in his eyes. _

_Before she could demand an explanation he disappeared, leaving her alone in the facility still clutching her shoulder, wondering what in the world had just happened..._

Alexa woke up in cold sweat and instantly brought a shaking, clammy hand up to her forehead as she swallowed audibly, gulping in large gusts of air. Then she buried her face in her hands and groaned to herself.

What was she doing, dreaming about getting injured like that again? Specifically, what in the world was Nico Di Angelo doing in her dream and more importantly, why did he look like he cared? Wasn't he just supposed to be that angry, asocial boy in her new school?

One thing Alexa knew for certain was that she was _not_ supposed to be dreaming about him after only her first day at school.

_God, get a grip Lexi. _She chanted, taking deep calming breaths to steady her heart rate. _Dreaming about the moody boy after your first day of school is not good. Bad girl. _

It was just her luck to be stuck with someone as self-absorbed as him, and it was definitely evidence that the universe was conspiring against her when she discovered that they were next door neighbors. The thought made her want to tear her heart out.

Alexa stood up, feeling suddenly thirsty. She walked downstairs discretely and got some cold water from her refrigerator. As she sipped the cool liquid, she looked out of her window at the Di Angelo residence. With a start, she realized that there was a figure on top of the slanted roof of the expensive house. She quickly pulled her iPhone out and zoomed in using the camera app. The sight made her almost choke on her water.

Sitting on top of his roof, in the middle of winter in Maine, at the dead of night, was Nico Di Angelo. He had his hung low so that she couldn't distinguish his face, but she knew that it was him. The strangest thing was that he had built a snowman behind him.

No. Not a snowman.

It was a snowgirl. A snowgirl that seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to her and that had it's arms wrapped around him in a loving embrace, its chin resting on his shoulder. Under ordinary circumstances, Alexa would have admired the extraordinary level of detail and craftsmanship, but _this_ was not an ordinary circumstance at all. Alexa found it exceptionally creepy that Nico would have built a snowman that looked like her and that he had the audacity to have her likeness wrap her arms around him.

_Pervert. _Alexa thought in disgust, but she realized that she was only voicing that opinion weakly.

Something about the darkness and melancholy that seemed to shroud Nico made her question whether the snowman really was supposed to be her. Instead of being creepily happy about having a snowy likeness of her wrapping her arms around him, he seemed to be almost bitter and dismal about the whole affair.

Her breath hitched in her throat when Nico gingerly raised a hand to caress the head of the snowman, but then the entire thing disintegrated instantaneously. Even from this distance, Alexa could see the immense and unfathomable pain that coursed through Nico's eyes and she unconsciously winced at the sight.

Then suddenly as though he had heard her, Nico's head snapped up and he seemed to be staring right at her, right through the darkness. His amber eyes flashed dangerously and Alexa dropped to the floor and tried to hide herself. She tried to console herself by reminding herself that there was no way that he could have seen her and that she was simply imagining things.

When she finally calmed her rapid heart rate, she peered hesitantly over the sink up at the roof and was shocked to see that no one was there. It was like a phantom apparition had just disappeared and Alexa found herself questioning whether she was still dreaming. Alexa quickly finished the rest of her water and ran back upstairs and curled into the inviting warmth of her bed.

_Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream. _She chanted to herself until she fell asleep once more.

Alexa was wrong.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter. I don't have much to say about this chapter, except that the before parts are actually very crucial to the story so make sure that you don't skip them. You need to read them to know about Nico's relationship with Bianca in addition to knowing about Bianca herself. Anyhow, I hope that you enjoyed it and if you did, please: Follow, Favorite, and Review!**


	3. Labyrinth

**Labyrinth**

**Before**

The rain drops pattered relentlessly against the window pane, but Nico couldn't hear anything. After all, he was asleep.

He was having the most peculiar dream where a group of men with horse-like bodies drank root beer as they attacked monsters in New York City. Then suddenly, there he was: riding atop a skeletal horse with a pale man standing behind him in robes made of shadows. The man radiated fear, but Nico was anything but afraid; he was excited. Then he and the man yelled and charged as a horde of skeletal warriors erupted from the ground, following behind them.

It was official - he needed to cut back on his movie watching time.

Suddenly, he woke up to the softest sound: a sniffle.

He stared up at the ceiling for an indeterminate amount of time, wondering if he would hear the noise again in which case he would have to go investigate, or if he wouldn't hear it again which meant his mind was playing tricks on him and he could go back to sleep. As he lay there, he counted the seconds breathlessly and strained to hear over the incessant noise of the rain.

Just when he was about to call it quits, there is was again: the sniffle.

Stifling a groan, he swung his legs off the bed and padded down to his bedroom door and opened it silently. He suddenly felt like a ninja. Nico got into character and swiftly swiveled his head, trying again to hear the noise - ninjas don't strain. It was about a second later that he heard the next sniffle, so quiet only a _ninja_ could hear it.

The ninja act dropped when he realized that it was coming from Bianca's room. As he walked silently towards her room, his heart sank deeper with every step that he took. With trembling hands, he coaxed the doorknob into opening noiselessly and shifted the door so minutely that he had to strain to see through the crack with one eye.

Bianca was sitting on her bed with her face buried in her hands, sobbing quietly. Nico's breath hitched in his throat making a small strangling sound, and he instantly clapped his hand over his mouth. However, it was unnecessary since Bianca couldn't hear him over the sound of her crying. He rubbed his fingers against his thumb in a nervous gesture as he pondered possible courses of action.

_Well, there's no way I can go to sleep now. I have to go comfort her, but how do I do that? Bianca's always the one that makes me feel better. I've never had to do the same for her. Gosh, this really blows... _He thought to himself.

He looked up in desperation hoping for some divine solution to present itself, but when none did, he hoped he had at least earned a blessing as he opened the door and walked in. Bianca didn't even look up to acknowledge that she had heard his intrusion. She only stirred, well more like jumped, when he sank onto a spot beside her on the bed.

"N-Nico! W-what are you d-doing here?" She sputtered, not able to talk clearly due to the rawness of her throat.

Bianca hastily wiped the tears out of her eyes in a feeble attempt to put on a brave front. "Back to your room, mister! It's way past your bedtime," she scolded weakly before he was about to answer.

Nico shook his head in annoyance before speaking. "No way! At least, not until you tell me why you were crying," he said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest for effect.

"W-what?! I wasn't crying!" Bianca choked out, looking very startled.

He rolled his eyes derisively and scoffed indignantly. "I'm not stupid, you know. I heard you before I walked in here, and I can still see the tear tracks that were left behind as you rubbed your eyes while I was in the room." He proclaimed and Bianca sighed, knowing that she had lost the fight.

She turned her head away and looked out the window, staring into the rain and the darkness. Bianca muttered, "You wouldn't understand."

Nico felt chafed by her statement and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah? Try me."

Bianca remained silent and just stared out the window while Nico waited patiently. Eventually, he got bored and also stared out the window until she was ready to talk. As he watched, he realized that when the droplets struck the window pane, they looked like splashes of silver that would appear and disappear with violent fleetingness only to be reformed again. Then the tiny droplets would slide down leisurely, clinging to the glass, and reflecting like gemstones.

"Nico, I'm fine. Please leave. I'm sorry that I woke you," Bianca said, breaking the still.

Shaking his head adamantly, Nico buried himself further into the mattress to prove his point. His sister cast a sidelong glance at him, her eyes still shimmering with remnant tears, and saw the resolve in his eyes and she almost smiled. It was the same expression she wore everytime that she stood behind a bow. She sighed in resignation, and Nico felt his eagerness struggle against his resolve, but he told himself to wait and stay silent lest he ruin everything.

She smiled wistfully as she continued to look out the window. "Do you ever wonder why we get hurt, Nico?" Bianca asked him, her tone light like it always was when she addressed him.

He sat quietly and thought about her question. "I don't really think that I know," he confessed truthfully and she nodded like she expected his answer.

"It's because we're trapped," she whispered softly, but he heard her.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked, a frown forming on his face.

"We're all stuck in a labyrinth, Nico; a maze. We are all just stuck in this maze, wandering around without any clue where we are going, but the entire time, we just suffer. That's life, Nico." Bianca proclaimed sadly.

Nico remained silent, but his frown grew larger and his brow furrowed in confusion. He wasn't understanding where she was going with all of this.

"Sometimes, I wonder if there is a way out, you know?" She asked, tilting her head towards him.

"Is there?" He ventured cautiously and she smiled to herself.

"I think there is," she whispered and he blinked, waiting for her to continue.

Her smile morphed into something more twisted and suddenly his gut twisted unpleasantly. Fear began to creep into his heart and that terrified him even more because Bianca could never scare him.

"Straight and fast; that's the way to do it." Bianca said softly, not even speaking to him anymore, but rather to herself.

Before he could ask what she meant, she shoved him out of her room with surprising strength and quickness, catching him unawares. He didn't have the courage to go back into her room, and he had a feeling the door was locked anyways. When he stood up, he shivered, thinking about the eerie smile on her face.

He was twelve at the time, but those words stuck with him, even four years later when he finally understood what she meant.

**After**

"You guys are going to _dominate_ the test tomorrow. Trust me, you have got nothing to worry about." Mr. Rayne enthused with confidence.

The students on the other hand, didn't look nearly as certain as he was. After all, the class average on the last biology test was a B-, and only Nico had actually gotten a good score on the test, but no one knew that.

"So we're doing a lab to prepare for the next unit today," the teacher continued, "and procedures are on the lab stations so get cracking."

Everybody shuffled out of their seats and headed to their lab stations. Nico followed them broodily when the teacher called him back. When he got up there, he was surprised and a little annoyed to see Alexa there as well. He was almost positive that he had seen her staring at him a few nights ago when he was up on the roof, but he didn't want to mention it because things would have gotten awkward quickly.

"Ah, Nico! Great to see you!" Mr. Rayne exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

Nico mumbled something along the lines of, "Whatever," and Alexa shot him a dirty look.

"Well, we're moving into the anatomy and dissection unit, and since this is a lab you need partners for, I was going to pair Alexa here with you." He said.

"What?!" Alexa and Nico asked angrily at the same time.

Mr. Rayne smiled to himself as the pair shot each other harsh glares before turning to him imploringly. "No, absolutely not. Nico, you haven't had a partner the entire semester and Alexa is new here, so you are pairing with her. This is not up for debate." He said curtly, and turned on his heels before they could protest.

Nico turned to Alexa moodily and she warily glanced at him before looking down. When he sighed in annoyance, she looked up at him again.

"Well how long are you just going to stand there, Prom Queen?" He demanded, and she huffed.

"Actually, I was just going, _Nicolas_." Alexa stressed before turning around and walking away with a satisfied smirk on her face when she saw him tense in anger.

He jogged after her and grabbed some materials while Alexa got a frog from the back cart and a pair of goggles for the both of them. She was tempted to dunk Nico's goggles in the solution the frog was preserved in, but she wasn't that cruel.

Truth be told, Alexa was too kind for her own good and it got her into more trouble than it should have, so now she felt a need to be more assertive about her feelings. Nico was excellent practice because he practically annoyed her on a daily basis.

"Hey, new girl!" A voice sneered and Alexa turned, holding a plate filled with the frog and its preservation liquid.

She nervously looked at the girl standing before her. It had only been a week, but she knew who Hannah Reynolds was. Hannah had to be the most popular girl to ever walk through Westover Hall, and she acted like she owned the place which might not have been far off considering her father donated large sums of money to the school.

Hannah had shiny bronze colored hair and feline green eyes, and she was gorgeous in a natural way which made the boys swoon. Her posse was caked with make up and whatnot, but the fact that she wasn't only made her stand out even more. She also had a reputation for being atrocious towards students that she didn't like. It was a well known fact that she fancied Nico, but since he didn't so much as glance in her general direction, she was dating the next hottest guy in school: Ryan Shore.

"Yes?" Alexa asked nervously, her old persona coming back on.

"Nice clothes." Hannah said with a devious smirk.

Alexa glanced quickly down at her outfit which was honestly rather plain: just a tye dye shirt and jeans. She scrunched her nose up in confusion and was about to politely thank her when Hannah flipped the plate in her hands, drenching her with preservation liquid and causing her to fall over.

Something slimy landed on her and Alexa was terrified when she saw the frog plastered right over her mouth. She wanted to scream, but then the frog would have slipped into her mouth and then she would definitely have vomited. Drops of the preservation liquid dripped off the frog's slimy skin and Alexa forced her mouth shut to prevent any liquid from entering. The smell made her want to gag.

She was just about to get rid of the frog since she had recovered from her initial shock when a pale hand stole it away. Instantly, she was pulled up and wrapped protectively by an identical arm and pressed against someone's rather muscular torso.

When she turned and saw Nico shielding her, she had half a mind to push him away, but the way his normally amber eyes were crimson with fury made her stay still.

Fear wasn't the proper word to describe how she felt when saw Nico then. She was absolutely petrified, and Hannah was faring no better.

"Hannah," Nico said quietly and the silence after he paused was deafening. Alexa was vaguely aware of the fact that the liquid was seeping from her shirt onto Nico's as well and that the teacher was nowhere to be seen.

"If you ever touch Alexa again, we are going to have problems. Understand?" He said, equally as quietly, but _holy hell_ was it terrifying.

"What is she, your _girlfriend_?" Hannah ventured, her voice quivering with fear.

"She is my sis-I mean friend." Nico said, stumbling over his words.

Nico then led Alexa out of the room and began to head in some unknown direction, his arm still wrapped protectively around her. They walked in a painful silence for a few seconds before she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Umm, can you let go of me now?" She asked timidly, hoping not to upset him.

"No," he stated simply, not bothering to elaborate.

She sighed audibly. "Can you at least tell me where we are going?" Alexa asked.

"Nurse's office," was his curt reply.

"Why?"

"Look at your arm."

Alexa looked at her right arm and was surprised to see blood flowing freely, drenching the sleeve of her tye dye shirt. She must have gotten it from the scalpel on her plate when she fell.

By the time she looked up, they were already at the nurse's office and when they walked in, the nurse looked at Nico and sighed tiredly.

"_Again_, Di Angelo? What's this, now you've gone and maimed a girl this time?" She snapped harshly.

"Pleasure to see you too, Dolores." Nico muttered under his breath and Alexa bit back a smile.

"Always the charmer, huh? Well, what's the damage?" The nurse demanded.

"Cut on the arm, near the shoulder. Looks shallow, and you'll want to bandage it up. Let her use the shower to clean up first." Nico said, his voice matter of fact, as Alexa gaped in wonder.

The nurse harrumphed and muttered under her breath, "If he already knows what to do, why bring her here?"

"Heard that." Nico snapped and the nurse rolled her eyes.

Nico shook his head and turned to face Alexa, his amber eyes boring into her pale blue ones. "I'm going to grab you some clothes, okay? Are your parents home or can you give me a key?" He asked gently.

Alexa gingerly handed him a key and he vanished without further explanation. The nurse waddled back out shortly after he left.

"Oh thank god, he's gone right?" She asked Alexa eagerly, and she nodded, still biting back a smile.

"Good riddance. I'm Nurse Allison Hull, but you can call me Allison." She said kindly, completely contrasting from her previous demeanor.

"Alexa Baker, it's nice to meet you." Alexa said, extending her hand and Allison met her half way and shook.

"You don't seem to like Nico very much do you?" Alexa inquired, opting to use his preferred name since he wasn't here.

The nurse scoffed. "Well, he's the reason I have a job here, I suppose - keeps sending a kid in every day without fail. So I guess you could say I don't like the little twerp, but he's not that bad. Did he do this to you?" Allison asked, gesturing to her wound as she led Alexa to the showers.

Alexa shook her head no. "I tripped and fell in biology." She said, not telling the whole truth.

Allison shrugged and motioned for her to use the shower. Alexa stepped in and turned on the hot water, standing inside for a long time because she didn't want to come back out until Nico had her clothes. Ten minutes later, she heard him barge into the main room and she turned off the water and dried off.

The nurse confiscated the plastic bag he must have brought and left it inside the room for her. Alexa was surprised and very embarrassed to see that he had brought her the works - jeans, a new shirt, a bra, and new underwear. She was going to kill him for going through her lingerie once she got dressed, but she was secretly glad to have a new bra with her.

Once she got changed, she went outside to meet Nico pacing, wearing a new shirt since his old one got drenched. When he saw her, a look of relief spread across his features and he walked towards her before glancing back at Allison angrily.

"Where's her bandage?" He demanded and Allison sauntered over before sticking the gauze in his face and walking away.

"Senile hippopotamus." Nico muttered and this time, Alexa did laugh causing Nico to crack a small smile of his own.

"What're they paying you for?!" He called back after her, but by then Allison had already disappeared into her office.

With a grumble, Nico led Alexa to the pediatrician bed, and Alexa hopped onto it. Nico rolled her sleeve back and inspected the wound closely before turning away to grab something at the cabinet. He retrieved a first aid kit and wet a puff of cotton with rubbing alcohol before pressing it against her cut. She winced slightly and Nico noticed but didn't make any motions to stop his actions.

Then he bit off a long strip of gauze and began to wrap it around her arm. "Geez, Prom Queen, you got yourself cut up pretty bad there," he said, meeting her eyes with a teasing smile on his lips.

Alexa huffed indignantly. "It was all Hannah's fault!" She protested and Nico chuckled in amusement.

"Whatever," he said and she felt annoyed, so she decided to embarrass him.

"You went through my lingerie drawer, didn't you?" Alexa demanded and instead of blushing, Nico smirked at her.

"Yeah, C-cup, huh? Never would have guessed." He said, and Alexa smacked the back of his head, blushing deeply.

"T-That's s-so - god!" She sputtered, feeling incredibly flustered.

Nico's smirk widened at the sight of her discomfort. "Relax, Prom Queen. Your secret's safe with me." He said, patting above his heart.

"Secret?!" Alexa shrieked.

"Yeah, you have small- oomph!" He was cut off before he could finish his sentence since Alexa smacked the back of his head again.

"Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence, Di Angelo." She warned, and he grinned cheekily up at her.

"Or what, _Baker_." He challenged, and Alexa squirmed with rage.

Without warning, she hit him again and then once more, just for good measure. Suddenly, she felt really satisfied as she watched Nico rub the back of his head balefully.

"Hey, you asked for it." Alexa said defiantly, and his look was positively murderous.

With a smug grin, she exited the room and began to head back to biology, leaving Nico alone, rubbing his scalp disdainfully.

* * *

**A/N: Greetings Earth-Being! I definitely stole the labyrinth stuff from John Green because I am not nearly that smart. I hope you liked the chapter - I tried to make it funny-ish. As you can see, humor is not my forte, but I do have my moments. I hope that I at least earned a couple pity chuckles. As always: Follow, Favorite, and Review. **

**Oh, and also, writing about bras is _incredibly_ awkward when you're a guy. That is all. **


	4. Observations

**Observations**

**Before**

"Hey, mom?" Nico asked, taking a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

His mother peered at him across her shoulder as she continued to wash some dishes. The running water cleaned the residue off the plates, and at that moment, Nico felt at home for some reason.

"Is dad a spy?" he asked curiously, and Maria laughed.

She turned the water off and wiped her hands on the dish cloth that hung around her neck. As she dried her hands, she turned around to face him and had to stop herself from telling him to get his haircut. It was much too long for her taste, but he was adamant about keeping it at its existing length for reasons that she couldn't begin to fathom.

"No, _bambino_, he was not a spy," she said gently, and Nico hung his head, looking crestfallen.

Maria smiled sadly at his despondent expression. No child should have to have to live without a father, particularly a son. After all, a boy needed his dad for all manner of things. Unfortunately, Nico's father would never be able to play catch with him. He would never be able to teach him how to drive or give him horrible dating advice when the time came around. Nico would never have that, and that thought constantly plagued her mind.

His head snapped back up and a gleam appeared in his eyes. "Oh, I get it! You can't tell me because you signed some super top secret thingamajig and promised that you wouldn't talk!" Nico declared triumphantly, and she resisted the urge to face palm.

With great and practiced patience, she attempted to explain to him that she had not signed a non-disclosure agreement or anything of the sort and that his father was most definitely not a spy. However, Nico obstinately refused to listen to her voice of reason, and she could see his temper mounting.

"Then where is he?!" Nico exploded, standing out of his chair so quickly that it fell back.

Maria crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. The father topic was a definite sore spot for him and it always incited some manner of violent response within him. What he didn't realize was that she was just as sore about it as he was, and she hated not being able to give him a definitive answer.

With a measured tone, she replied, "Nico, _bambino_, we have talked about this before: I don't know where he is."

Nico's eyes darkened, and he viciously lashed out. "Who the hell does he think he is? You're telling me that he thought it would be fine to have two kids and then just abandon them without any warning? What the _fuck_ is wrong with him?"

"Language, Nico!" Maria snapped, feeling her own fury rise.

He ignored her and began to pace around the kitchen island, his rage so palpable that she swore that she could feel it. It reminded her of her husband; they were so alike it was scary. Nico licked his lips and laughed harshly and bitterly.

"I don't miss him. I don't need him. If he doesn't think that we are _perfect_ enough to be a part of his life, then that is fine with me! He can rot in hell for all I care," he said caustically, and Maria gasped.

Without knowing what she was doing, she went forward to slap him, but her palm struck someone else's face. Both she and Nico stared in pure shock when Bianca materialized out of thin air, talking the blow for him. A red hand imprint was plainly visible on her face, but she didn't look the slightest bit perturbed.

"Please, don't hit Nico," she whispered softly, breaking the tension filled silence.

Nico screamed and ran out of the kitchen and Maria burst into tears. Bianca wrapped her mother in a hug and comforted her as she sobbed into her shoulder.

Maria hated herself for making Bianca the pillar of the household, but then again, she always had been. Ever since her husband left without warning or notice while she was pregnant with Nico, she slipped into a sort of depression and it was only after Nico was born that she regained the remnants of her previous vitality. She still wasn't quite the same, medically she was rather frail, and so Bianca grew up and became the guardian of the household at a tender age.

Bianca waived off her mother's incessant apologies with a tone of caring and understanding. After Maria composed herself, Bianca went off to find Nico holed in his room with loud music blasting through the stereo system.

At the sight of his older sister, Nico crushed her in a big hug, his body heaving with silent sobs. Bianca smiled warmly and rubbed his back the same way that she had done ever since he was a child. Whenever he got teased or fell or cried, she was always there, ready with a warm hug, and when she rubbed his back, it felt like maybe everything would turn out alright.

They didn't speak; they didn't have to.

He was her adorable little brother, and she was his guardian angel. They loved each other more than life itself, but like all good things, it was never meant to last...

**After**

Nico rubbed his mother's warm fingers and looked down at her unconscious form with a look of anguish on his face. His mind was blank, but his fingers moved with a mind of their own.

Not for the first time, his eyes flickered to the brain scanner, looking for any signs of improvement, but it was disappointingly low key. He shook his head and directed his gaze out the window, his fingers still subconsciously rubbing.

It was cloudy outside, and it looked like there was a storm front coming in. In Maine, that translated to a nasty blizzard that might or might not close the schools or take out the heating. The clouds were dark and forbearing in their appearance - maybe a bad omen of sorts. He snorted derisively at the thought; things couldn't get much worse than they were now.

"How's she doing?" A gentle yet cautious voice asked behind him, and Nico stiffened reflexively.

"Fine," he said curtly, fixing his now crimson eyes on the pale, gaunt figure of his father.

His father sighed, and wrote some more notes on his clipboard before nervously adjusting his lab coat, revealing how uncomfortable he felt. He bit his lip and tapped his pen against the side of the plastic, looking at his son, wondering what he should say.

"You hungry? We could run out and grab a bite to eat-" he suggested, but Nico cut him off.

Nico regarded his dad coldly, "I'll eat with you when hell freezes over."

The older man winced at his son's hostility, but then again, he couldn't really blame him. After all, you couldn't really expect the boy to take a shining to you when you barge into his life after the greatest catastrophe he had ever experienced. No amount of catch up would ever begin to make up for his absence from his earlier years, and his timing couldn't have been worse.

"You should get out more. Don't spend your weekend here at the hospital. It's depressing," he ventured.

"I refuse to abandon her like you did," was Nico's vitriolic reply.

His father stiffened, and rage etched into his sharp features before he turned on his heels and stormed away without a word, his lab coat billowing impressively behind him.

Nico watched him walk away with a sense of glum satisfaction. _He's hurt - that's good. Maybe he'll understand now how hurt I was the first sixteen years of my life. _He thought bitterly to himself.

He glanced back at his comatose mother before sighing in resignation and standing up. After stretching his limbs, he pressed a quick kiss to his mother's temple before leaving her ward and waiting for the elevator. His feet tapped restlessly as he waited for the metal doors to open so that he could leave.

When they finally did open, he wanted to retch.

"Nico? What are you doing here?" Alexa asked him curiously, peering at him from inside the elevator.

Nico dumbly stood where he was, wishing that the ground would open up and swallow him whole so that he wouldn't have to suffer through the Alexa Baker Inquisition.

"Are you just going to stand there, or what? I'm holding the door open for you, you know," she stated irately, and sure enough, her hand was keeping the doors open.

With an inward scream, he put on a placid expression and strode into the elevator without further ado. To make matters even worse, Alexa was the only other person in the elevator.

Nico looked every where else he could other than at her, whereas Alexa looked at him with an expression of amusement.

"Am I too ugly to look at?" Alexa teased, and Nico looked at her with a mortified expression on his face.

She laughed at him, causing him to blush furiously to himself. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait, what are _you_ doing here?" He demanded, and he delighted at the blush that colored her cheeks.

"Mind your own business, mister," she sputtered.

He grinned cheekily at her. "Ooh, kitty's got claws," he said cloyingly, making a claw gesture with his hand.

Alexa looked at him incredulously. "You're annoying," she stated, and Nico looked at her dryly.

"That's an observation, not a judgment," she added nervously, and he shook his head, smiling.

"Sounded like a judgment to me," he pointed out, but she remained silent.

"Aw, I broke the new girl!" Nico exclaimed, and she jabbed him with her elbow.

"God, you are irritating," she muttered under her breath.

Nico leered at her, a smirk gracing his features, "Observation, or judgment?"

Alexa glared back at him. "You tell me," she challenged, but Nico merely chortled in response.

The elevator doors opened and Alexa walked out briskly, and Nico followed after her, not quite done teasing her yet. She was just too easy to rile up.

"Hey, Prom Queen, where are you going?" he called out to her.

She didn't even turn around when she replied, "Hopefully, somewhere where you aren't!"

By this time, Nico had managed to catch up to her. He clutched his stomach, miming injury. "Oh, how your words wound me so, Queen of the Prom," he declared bumptiously.

To his amusement, instead of replying, Alexa merely sped up so that he had to jog now to keep up with her. He chuckled to himself as they exited the hospital and walked out onto the snow covered street.

"In a hurry, are we?" Nico prodded, and Alexa rounded to face him.

"What is your problem?! Please, just leave me alone! I don't want to deal with this crap again!" Alexa fumed, and Nico cringed slightly.

"Again?" He asked curiously yet cautiously.

"None of your business," she hissed so venomously that he actually recoiled.

Without thinking, the words flew out of his mouth, "Do you want to go grab some coffee?"

Alexa froze and looked at him as though he had just parachuted out of an alien spaceship and was sporting three heads. She folded her arms across her chest, and squinted up at him with a critical eye, which made him feel extremely nervous.

"Coffee," she said, over enunciating the word.

"Coffee," Nico affirmed, but he didn't miss the way her clenched fist twitched.

"Un-_fucking_-believable. _Coffee_. You want _me_ to grab some _coffee_ with _you_?" Alexa demanded, biting into almost every other word and sounding downright murderous.

Nico fidgeted nervously, looking at her apprehensively. "Err, I wanted you to, but I am not sure you want to."

"Gee, ya think?" Alexa said, sarcasm dripping out of every word, causing Nico to wince.

"If you didn't want to come, you could have just told me. You didn't have to be so mean about it," he grumbled, looking down at his shoes and feeling horribly self conscious.

Alexa sagged noticeably and she held a hand up to her forehead before taking a deep calming breath.

"Okay, fine - let's get some coffee," she said with resignation.

Nico's head snapped up and he was ten hundred percent sure that he had heard her wrong. "Really? Sweet!" He said brightly, and Alexa smiled slightly.

Without preamble, he grabbed her hand and dragged her through the streets of Bar Harbor, taking them both to his favorite coffee shop. In a matter of minutes, both of them were sitting awkwardly across each other at a small table, cupping their hot drinks as they looked uncomfortably at one another.

"So..." They both said at the same time, before stopping and laughing.

"Gosh, we are so awkward," Nico said through his chuckles.

Alexa smiled at him in response. "Totally."

"So, where did you use to live before you came to the North Pole?" Nico asked politely. Alexa laughed brightly at his joke, making his insides warm in a most peculiar manner.

"Well, I used to live in _fine_ state of Washington, Seattle to be precise," she said, and Nico nodded his head appreciatively.

"Seattle, huh? I used to live in Nevada," he stated, and Alexa's eyes widened.

"Did you live near Vegas?"

Nico rolled his eyes derisively. "Contrary to popular belief, Vegas is not the only populated area in Nevada. I lived in a random suburb that was probably about an hour's drive away."

Alexa held her hands up in surrender. "Sorry for generalizing, but hey, I bet you think that Seattle is filled with Starbuck's drinking hipsters and underground grunge music lovers," she said, and Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Well is it?" he asked expectantly.

"Yes," Alexa mumbled and he laughed, causing her to smile.

The afternoon flew by in that fashion with just the two of them talking about themselves and things that interested them. Apparently, they were both huge Nirvana fans and Alexa's parents owned a signed copy of Nevermind by Kurt Cobain which rendered Nico nearly catatonic. They shared a lot of similarities, but the more they talked, the more similarities Nico drew between her and Bianca.

They both laughed genuinely at his lame jokes, not just offering pity chuckles like other people used to. They both twirled their hair unconsciously when they were engrossed in conversation. They both had dimples when they smiled, and their smiles seemed to brighten the room with their sheer intensity.

He also noticed that as their conversation progressed, he became progressively more open and joking instead of serious and cold. It was definitely preferable in his eyes to feeling miserable all the time, but he was uneasy that she could make him feel this way. It wasn't that he didn't like it; he just felt apprehensive.

"Oh, crap! I have to get going or my mom's going to kill me, and that's an observation, not a judgment," Alexa said seriously, and Nico grinned.

"Go on then, I don't want to keep you," he said good naturedly.

She smiled at him before leaving the shop in a hurry. As he watched her leave, it occurred to him that the way her blond hair tousled about in the cold winter wind was nothing short of beautiful.

_Oh, dear god - I think my sister's look alike is beautiful. Kill me now. _Nico groaned to himself, burying his face in his hands.

Freud would have had a heyday with him.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! With this story, I'm going to try to focus more on dialogue since I don't really do that well with it in my other stories. I want the interactions to seem more human and normal, so tell me if it comes across that way. I am super excited to write more chapters, but I hope that we can get some more views or reviews. If you have any ideas on how to do that, please share. If you enjoyed the chapter, please just take five seconds out of your life to drop a review.**


	5. Author Note

**Author Note**

**Hello everyone! Prepare yourselves for some juicy background info! If you have stuck with me for a while now, you know that a list is coming. Most of this will be repeats from my other author notes, so I have taken the liberty of adding an asterisk in front of my newer points for my veteran readers. **

**1. It's an alternative universe story **- For newcomers or for those that haven't figured it out yet, that means that there won't be any monsters, gods, titans, giants, and otherwise mythological deities in this story. Fairly self explanatory.

***2. The story is rated M for a reason - **This is not a story for younger kids. There will be scattered swearing (usually dialogue) and other fun stuff. The story's also going to be really intense and emotions will be high strung so don't expect sunshine and rainbows. I warn you: "The Incident" might probably piss some of you the hell off, and I will undoubtedly get crap for even considering adding such content in my story, but I think that it needs to be done. I swear, you will not be ready for "The Incident" no matter what you might tell yourself. It's some hardcore shit.

***3. I'm writing Nico in character? **- "Blasphemy!" "He's a witch!" "Burn him at the stake!" "Quick honey, grab my pitchfork and light your torch!"

^ That's what I imagine most of you saying since I never write in character, but Rick was finally generous enough to make an already angsty character for me so I am like a kid in a candy store going absolutely bananas over this.

***4. My feeble attempts at humor - **I am trying to make this story funnier since Nico is just a funny guy, but if I fail, don't judge. I swear I am not as socially retarded as I come across, and I don't use retarded in the medical sense. I don't and never will endorse ableist, sexist, and/or racist language unless one of my characters decides to be a bigot.

**5. Nico and his family are the only characters from the actual series - **Self explanatory.

***DISCLAIMER*: **I do not own any of the characters from Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians".

Questions? Concerns? Lonely? Please don't hesitate to hit me up and message me.


	6. Torment

**Torment**

**Before**

Nico paraded into the high school without a tinge of apprehension in his system. Sure he was barely fourteen years old, but he walked into that high school like he owned the place, which is precisely why he got shoved into the lockers by a senior the second he stepped through the door. A gargantuan mass of testosterone and his cronies strutted away, guffawing amongst themselves as Nico scowled, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Jerk," Nico whispered to himself before he craned his head to locate his sister.

There weren't very many people in the hallways because class was still in session so he decided that he would just walk around aimlessly. The middle school was only a block or so away, and he definitely preferred getting rides from her whenever he got the chance. Since school let out a little earlier today, he had decided to actually go inside the school instead of waiting outside like he normally did.

Since there were probably five or so minutes before the final bell rang, he decided to just wander around and drink everything in. After all, he was going to be going to school there the next year, so he might as well get himself acclimatized.

He strolled around leisurely, his hands shoved in his pockets, a perpetual grin on his face. When he reached the sports trophies, he stopped and gaped at the amount of times his sister's name was in there.

_School record for the mile: Bianca Di Angelo - 5:16  
School record for the 110 meter hurdles: Bianca Di Angelo - 12.45  
State record for archery: Bianca Di Angelo_

The list went on and on, naming accomplishment after accomplishment. With a proud smile on his face, he examined the team photos featuring all the members of the various teams that she was apart of.

_Huh, Bianca never mentioned breaking any of these records at home. Not even the archery one. _Nico thought to himself.

It disturbed him that in each one, a haunted look lingered in her eyes, and she smiled half heartedly while the rest of the team would smile and grin freely. Her eyes would either be downcast or nervously examining the person next to her, and in all of the pictures, no one ever slung an arm around her or made any physical contact with her whatsoever.

The toll of the bell snapped him out of his reverie and instantly a flood of students crammed into the hallways, making it impossible to navigate. Nico weaved his way in and out of the crowd, eyes searching for his sister and her familiar dark hair. After a few minutes of searching, he still couldn't find her even though many of the students had already left the building. He decided that he would search for her for five more minutes before he waited in the front of the school for her.

After three more minutes of searching, he was finally ready to give up, but when he rounded a corner, he froze at the sight that he saw. Bianca was surrounded by four students, three girls and one boy, and all of them seemed to be laughing. In ordinary circumstances, Nico would have assumed that they were simply her friends laughing at one of her jokes, but when he saw the sorrow and embarrassment in Bianca's eyes, he knew that something was amiss.

"Oh my god, look at what the freak is wearing. How in the world can you call yourself a girl, and dress yourself this poorly?" A girl demanded, her voice shrill and preppy. The others laughed when the same girl removed Bianca's floppy green hat and threw it into a dumpster.

Bianca made no movements, and merely clutched tightly onto her calculus text book, her knuckles turning white. Strands of her silky brown hair draped across her face, obscuring her emotions to the rest of them, but Nico knew her well enough to know that this was her defense mechanism. His fist clenched instantly, and he had half a mind to storm over and verbally attack her tormenters, but he wanted to see his sister handle the situation.

One of the other girls, sauntered up to her and shot her a disdainful expression as though Bianca was the scum of the Earth and an affront to her presence. "God, why are you such a freaky bitch? You should just go home and kill yourself - you would be doing us all a favor," she sneered, and a tremor ran through Bianca's body, her hold on the book tightening.

The blood inside Nico's veins felt like they were searing and boiling inside, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to give that stupid girl a piece of his mind. He certainly had some colorful words to share with her. He couldn't understand why anyone would pick on Bianca - she was the nicest person that he knew, and she didn't deserve this.

Again, the group chortled maliciously with laughter, enjoying their torment of the other girl. The blond that Nico had heard speak first, attacked Bianca again, saying, "How does it feel, to be hated by every single person in this school? You're like a disease - no one wants you here."

Bianca turned her body away from the girl slightly, her hair further veiling her face. The boy finally spoke, "She asked you a question, bitch. Answer her!"

At this point, Nico began to stride over the quintet in far more calm a manner than he thought possible, but when Bianca remained silent and the boy raised his hand to slap her, his vision turned red.

The hand never fell.

As though he had formed from the shadows of the school, Nico melted into the scene between his sister and her attacker, holding the boy's hand in a death grip. In that second, it didn't matter that the guy was a senior and was probably eighty pounds heavier and definitely more muscular than him. No one hurts his sister, simple as that.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. My Sister." Nico said slowly, over enunciating each word with a calm he didn't know he possessed.

The boy looked at him with an expression of bewilderment before smirking malevolently. "Whatever, I wouldn't want to touch that whore anyways," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

Nico wasn't quite sure what happened next except that when he gained control over his faculties, the boy was on the ground crying out in pain and his wrist was twisted so severely, it was almost turned ninety degrees. Without warning, Nico brought his foot down on the boy's elbow, breaking it instantly.

The girls shrieked as he howled in pain, but when Nico spoke, they shut up instantly. "If you ever hurt my sister again, I will skin you alive," he barked, and by the tone of his voice, they all knew he was being completely serious.

"Get out of my sight," Nico commanded, and the girls scurried away as the boy limped away.

When Nico turned to Bianca, he noticed that she was shaking violently. Without another word, he wrapped her in his arms, and slowly her arms curled around his frame as well.

Then suddenly, she shoved him away, her face taut with anger. "What in the _world_ are you doing here?" she screamed, and Nico recoiled.

"Saving you," he said confusedly, and Bianca's face grew livid.

"I don't need _you_ to save me. I can take care of myself!" Bianca declared angrily.

Nico squinted at her, feeling annoyed now. "Look, I helped you and stopped those jerks from making fun of you - I don't understand why you're mad at me," he protested.

Instead of answering, Bianca shoved him again angrily. "You messed everything up! I don't need your help. You think I can't handle things by myself? You think that I'm a loser?" she demanded, and Nico gaped at her.

"Bianca, you are not a loser. You're the most amazing, winningest person that I know. I'm sorry for trying to be a good brother, but I won't let scum like them lay a finger on you on my watch," he said calmly, trying to soothe her rage.

She shook her head defeatedly, grimacing at his words. "You don't understand. What do you think is going to happen tomorrow when I come back? Things are going to get worse. They'll spread more rumors and people will hate me more than they already do. What's worse, they're going to start insulting you now, and I can guarantee that Mason will get some of his football friends to beat you up."

"I can take 'em." Nico muttered defiantly, and Bianca shook her head again.

He heard her take a deep calm breath, and when her eyes opened, he saw a look of pure, unadulterated dread in them before vanishing. "Let's just go home, Nico," she said wearily, rubbing her temples, and Nico suddenly felt incredibly guilty.

As she walked out, he followed her diligently, not saying a word for fear of worsening his situation. He hated getting her mad at him.

That night, at around midnight, Nico heard her crying again through his walls. Only this time, she seemed to be repeating the same question over and over again, almost like a fervent mantra.

"Why me? Why me? Why me?"

**After**

"You're joking, right?" Alexa demanded, her hand lightly holding her chocolate milk.

Nico grinned and nodded reassuringly. "I swear, his head swelled up to the size of a balloon," he said, and Alexa burst out laughing.

Once again, a warm feeling rose up inside his chest like a tiny flame, making him feel cozy and satisfied on the inside.

After she recovered, Alexa managed to squeeze out a sentence, saying, "Who knew that being allergic to bees could be so fatal?"

At this point, Nico adopted a matter-of-fact speaking voice and began to comically explain what a bee sting actually did to those that had allergies. It was a dorky move, but Nico was relieved that Alexa had the decency to look interested, but in reality, she was enraptured with everything that he was saying.

They were both sitting alone at their own table during lunch in the cafeteria. Nico was poking at a homemade sandwich as Alexa finagled with some horrid school lunch. While they still weren't best friends, necessity drew them to each other, and since Nico was her guide, they were kind of forced to spend time with one another. After a while, they both agreed that it was in both their interests to pursue a friendlier relationship. Sure, they weren't chums, but they could at least tolerate each other now.

"I think your mashed potatoes just moved," Nico said seriously, breaking the silence, and Alexa quickly glanced down at her plate.

She met his eyes and spoke seriously. "I think you're right," she whispered, and Nico laughed.

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite freak," a voice crooned, and Nico turned to see Ryan and his goons standing behind him.

A flicker of annoyance travelled through Nico's eyes as he saw him, but he kept on the frigid facade that he reserved for everyone but his mother and Bianca.

"Shore, tell me, did your mother drop you on your head as a child?" Nico asked cynically, and Alexa snorted in her hand to suppress her laughter.

Ryan shot her a cold look, but a cocky smirk slid across his face when she peered up at him curiously. Ignoring Nico, Ryan pressed his forearm on their table and leaned forward, looking at Alexa with a hungry look in his eyes. His eyes roamed up and down her body very inappropriately, and Alexa felt the urgent need to cover herself even though she was wearing clothes.

"Can I help you?" she demanded, her voice cutting.

"Very nice," Ryan whispered to himself, and Alexa cringed.

"Oh babe, you could help me in more ways than one," he said, and flashed what was probably a charming smile, but Alexa's fist twitched as she repressed the urge to sock him.

"In that case, first thing I'm doing is calling a restraining order, then I'm going to donate your brain to science so that they can find a cure for douchebagitis," Alexa said, and Nico roared in laughter.

Ryan licked his lips, the hungry look still in his eyes, before chuckling to himself. "You're a feisty one. I like that."

Nico growled and pushed him off the table causing the both of them to have an intense stare off before Ryan finally backed away, but not before winking suggestively at Alexa on his exit.

When Nico turned around, he murmured obscenities under his breath, and Alexa shivered at Ryan's retreating form.

"That guy is the definition of a sleaze bag!" Alexa declared contemptuously, and Nico managed a small grin.

"That sounds about accurate," he said thoughtfully, and Alexa rolled her eyes at him.

After they finished their food, Nico and Alexa left the lunchroom talking about random things - more conversation about music, griping about teachers and homework, making fun of the popular kids, and generally joking around as they headed to English.

Ms. Jennings, a bubbly English teacher fresh out of college, bounded about the room spryly as she chittered about. Nico and Alexa exchanged an exasperated glance as the teacher waltzed around the room.

"And you see, Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter as a symbol! A bold declaration if you will, but look who wears it! Hester Prynne! She's alluring, she's defiant, she's open, she's brilliant, she's sexy!" Ms. Jennings rambled.

Nico rolled his eyes at Alexa in an exaggerated fashion, and Alexa mimed slitting her throat and stuck her tongue out for effect.

In all honesty, Ms. Jennings was a pretty great teacher, and many a boy harbored a secret crush on her due to her vitality and good looks. However, she seemed to be obsessed with literature; obsessed to the point that you wouldn't want to show in public. She was practically worshipping Hawthorne and "The Scarlet Letter" which was a good book, a great one to be honest, but she just went way overboard.

"Nico! Why don't you tell us all about Pearl?" she demanded suddenly, her eyes bright and expectant as she looked at him.

"Umm, she's shiny?" Nico ventured, having not read the book, and instantly the entire class burst out laughing, but Ms. Jennings was not amused. You do not mess with Ms. Jennings's literary interests if you wished to keep your head. Her eyes turned frosty, but Alexa swooped in to save the day.

"Hey, guys! That's so mean - give the guy a break! In a way, Nico's kind of right, you know? Pearl is the embodiment of shininess - she's brash, she's eccentric, she's capricious, and she's flashy in her own way," Alexa argued, and the class quieted, feeling subdued.

Nico flashed her a grateful look, and Alexa mouthed, "You owe me," as Ms. Jennings beamed at her and praised her for the balance of the hour.

That day, after school was over, they walked together back home since it wasn't too far away and soon a companionable silence enveloped them. As Nico walked along side Alexa, he was suddenly struck by the realization that he might have made a friend in too-cold Bar Harbor after all.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, indeed, the story is back up and running! Mazel Tov. The ending was sloppy, but I don't care because this chapter was primarily Before-centric, and I felt the need to highlight some of the friendliness developing between Nico and Alexa. I changed the Hiatus note into background info for the story, so give that a read if you want. I hope you enjoyed Alexa's BS about Pearl and the chapter as a whole. As always please: Follow, Favorite, and/or Review!**

**PS: The Scarlet Letter is awesome. That is all.**


	7. December

**December**

**Before**

Maria and Nico sat quietly at the table, both dressed in sleepwear. Nico was bored out of his mind, but he would wait up all night if he had to. It wasn't every day that his sister was asked to go to a school dance, and he was praying that it was a positive experience. He had given her date a once over when he'd arrived, all suave and stupid, at least, that's what Nico thought. The guy had way too much gel in his hair, and the stench of his cologne had still permeated the house for about a half hour after he had left. As long as the testosterone junkie treated his sister right, he supposed that he wouldn't get too worked up.

However, if the kid did anything, _anything_, to upset his sister, Nico was going to kick his ass half way to hell, bring him back, and then kick him again for the balance of the distance. He allowed himself a half-smirk at the thought.

"Want any cereal, _bambino_?" Maria asked, now bustling in the kitchen.

"Uh, sure," he said, shrugging.

Within minutes, he was chomping on some Coco Puffs. Nico didn't like this whole "fiber initiative" thing that Kellogg's had going on. Honestly, if he could dump some M&M's in a bowl full of milk, he'd call that cereal and eat it - fuck a "nutritious" breakfast.

He guffawed at the thought, but stopped when Maria shot him a curious glance. He didn't want to explain the source of his laughter to his mother. She'd probably make him wash his mouth with soap or whatever sadistic parenting strategy was the fad these days, never mind that he was in the eighth grade. All the cool kids swore at school, and if anything, Nico was a cool kid. Except for his love of Mythomagic - that was a secret that no one in the student body could know about, but screw them - Mythomagic was _awesome_.

It was almost eleven thirty when the door opened, and Bianca walked in, all clad in her black dress, her hair done up perfectly. Nico would never so say, because he wasn't one to admit such things, but he thought that his sister looked pretty good.

"Bianca, how'd it go?" he asked eagerly.

She sat down besides him and stole his Coco Puffs before shrugging nonchalantly. "It was alright," she said neutrally, probing at her cereal.

"Uh oh," Nico said.

Bianca looked up curiously. "That's your tell for when something went wrong: your voice goes all flat and _robotronic_," he elaborated.

"That's not a word," she said with a frown.

"Is too! Now stop changing the subject. Spill," he said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest for effect.

Bianca sighed, draping her hand over her forehead. "You are such a little _pest_, Nico."

"Sister, dearest, stop - I blush."

That elicited a smile on her end, much to his delight. "Alright, so my date might have spent the entire dance dancing with a cheerleader instead of me. It's no big deal," she said off-handedly.

Nico pursed his lips. "It sounds like a big deal to me," he said.

Maria sat down at the table as well, a concerned look upon her face. "Oh, honey," she said sympathetically.

"It's not that bad! I didn't think that anything else would have happened anyways," Bianca protested, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"What an _ass_," Nico hissed.

Maria sent her son a warning glance, but she had to agree with the sentiment. She turned back to her daughter, saying, "It's alright, Bianca. He wasn't mature or intelligent enough to know how lucky he was to have gone to the dance with you. He missed a golden opportunity to know a wonderful young woman."

Bianca scoffed. "He didn't want to dance with me because I'm a _freak_."

Nico looked at her sadly. "That's not true at all; he's just got coal for brains."

To his horror, tears began streaming down her face. "I just- I just wish that people would like me. That's not so much to ask for, is it?" she sobbed before running away to the living room.

Maria and Nico exchanged worried glances before the latter stood up angrily, cracking his knuckles. "That's it: I'm going to _murder_ him."

"You will do no such thing," Maria said sternly.

"Fine, you're right; he needs to suffer more. How about I screw him over, Vlad the Impaler style?"

"Nico!"

"Alright, geez," he said, leaving the kitchen and walking into the living room.

Bianca was sitting there on the sofa, sniffling as she rubbed gingerly at her eyes. Nico padded into the living room, an idea already swirling in his erratic, quirky adolescent mind. With a grin, he walked up to Bianca and took her hand in his own, causing her to look up at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Oh golly gee, I sure am nervous, but Bianca, you just look so pretty, would please please _please_ dance with me?" Nico asked, his tone half-smarmy, half-genuine.

Slowly, a shy smile slid across Bianca's face. "I'd love to, Nico."

Nico smiled widely. "Oh, goodness, would you really?"

"Yes. Now stop talking like that before I use you as target practice," Bianca said.

Nico chuckled. "I would think threats of domestic violence would have waited until the first date, but it's cool; I dig dangerous chicks."

"I'm starting to have seconds thoughts about this."

"No! I'm sorry, okay? Just trying to lighten the atmosphere."

Nico scampered off and turned the home theater system on. He found one of his mom's old jazz CD's and popped it into the sound system before returning to the center of the room where Bianca was waiting. He leaned towards the couch and picked up her corsage before slipping it on her wrist delicately. When he looked up, she was smirking at him.

"What? If we're gonna do this, we're doing it right," he argued.

Bianca's smirk widened. "I guess that explains the pajamas."

Nico looked down and, lo and behold, he was still wearing pajamas. They both laughed riotously at the expression of horror that was undoubtedly on his face. The antics over, Nico slipped his arms around his sister's waist and she looped her arms around his shoulders. He was shorter than her so it actually worked out pretty nicely, but he wasn't too happy about it. When was he going to hit his stupid growth spurt already?

Maria watched from the kitchen with a soft smile as her children clumsily stepped on each other's toes and laughed and giggled and joked and teased. _If only their father were here now_, she thought. After a few minutes, she slipped away to sleep for the night, leaving Nico and Bianca alone in the living room, still dancing.

A while later, they didn't know how long, Bianca looked at Nico fondly. "This was really sweet of you, Nic. Thanks."

Nico shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just glad that you're better now."

"I am."

Nico grinned. "Yeah, imagine, you might have missed out on my mad dance moves if your date wasn't such a jerk."

Bianca chuckled. "I think I might need therapy to cope with the sight of you dancing."

"You know you love it."

"Do not."

"Denial is an ugly color on you, sister, dearest."

"Shut up, you little twerp."

**After**

The silence around the dinner table was deafening. His father was seated at the opposite end of the table, eating his steak with surgical precision, each cut the same size. Nico, on the other hand, was toying with his food, staring balefully out the window at the falling snow. It never did stop in Maine, did it? How glum. He was positive he wasn't going to die of Vitamin D deficiency. Bringing a depressed kid to a state where notorious for its bleak winters wasn't the smartest idea in the world.

"So," his father began. "How was your day?"

Nico turned from the window to give his father a look that roughly translated to _are you kidding me? _His father took note of his expression placidly before sighing and placing his cutlery softly against the table. The gaunt, pale man steepled his fingers and used them to mask his mouth.

"Nico, in order for this to work, you're going to have to try," he said.

"Too late for that, _father_. If you had wanted this to work, you would have been at my side sixteen years ago," he said caustically, holding his fork up.

The surgeon sighed heavily and pressed his hand against his forehead. "Listen, Nico. I made a mistake - we all make mistakes - and I made a big one. I left because I had to, not because I wanted to, and day I was separated from you was like a blow to my heart. The truth is that my marriage with your mother just wasn't working out. We loved each other, yes, I still do, but it just became too much to handle for the both of us-"

"You could have visited!" Nico interrupted angrily. "You could have sent a card, a photo, anything! You didn't do anything to have contact with us. It's like you didn't even know us."

"I didn't want to upset your mother," his father said weakly.

Nico stared at him, his eyes turning crimson. "You upset my mother more by not being a father to her children."

The older man closed his eyes tightly for a few seconds. He stood up from the table and took his clean plate in his hands before staring down at his son. His usual aura of deadly calm and condescending power spread over his countenance once more. The expression on his face was clear; it said: _I don't have to explain anything to you_.

"Be sure to wash your plate once you finish," he said curtly, disappearing immediately after.

Nico watched him leave with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Really?" he bellowed. "Is that all you have to say to me? After all these years!"

When he received no response, he stood up angrily and cried out in exasperation. He stole up the stairs to his room, taking two or three at a time as he did. The second he made it to his room, he slammed the door behind him and threw the nearest object he could find at the wall. In this case, it was a stress ball. He took his clothes and threw them everywhere, fueling his rage. Still not satisfied, he started punching his pillow with a vengeance, trying his best to be noisy.

Breathlessly, he turned around looking for something else to throw when he froze suddenly. He stared out his open window to the house adjacent to his to see Alexa sitting on his window sill, looking at his room as she held a book in her hand. For a few seconds, they looked at each other silently before Alexa gave him a curt nod that Nico returned in kind. Alexa went back to reading her book, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck, as Nico stood dumbly in his room, still quivering in rage but decidedly chastened.

He still wasn't on a friendly basis with Alexa so it was extremely awkward that she had caught him in the midst of a temper tantrum. To be honest, he didn't know what he and Alexa were anymore. Sure, she annoyed the living daylights out of him, but her uncanny resemblance to his sister made him unexpectedly fond of her. He had a strange urge to protect her, but it was absurd to Alexa because she didn't have any idea why. It was maddening to say the least.

With a sigh, he sat on his window sill too, looking up at the sky wistfully.

"You wanna talk about it?" Alexa asked, still reading her book.

"Not really," he replied.

"Suit yourself," she said with a shrug. "Just don't rampage around your room like a raging elephant - it's annoying."

Nico bristled. "Hey, don't like it, close your window."

Alexa smirked up at him from her book. "I enjoy the winter chill. You close yours."

"Okay, first, that's weird - no one likes winter. Second, don't tell me what to do."

She feigned terror. "Oh, I guess you sure showed me."

"Baker, you're _such_ a pain in the ass."

"Stop it with all the compliments; you're making me blush."

Nico sighed resignedly. He was starting to stir himself up again, and as fun as throwing tantrums were, it only increased his blood pressure. "I'll take you up on your psychiatry services."

"It'll be five hundred in advance."

"Quit it," Nico said. "I'm serious - I wanna talk."

"I'm _reading_, dear Nicolas."

"Prom Queen, _you_ were the one that offered," Nico said irately.

Alexa's eyes flickered up from her book to look at him once more. "And you refused, so I fulfilled my obligatory duty to offer you my humane services. I can ignore you now, happily and without remorse."

Nico scrunched his face up. "I'm pretty sure you're a sadist."

"Nicolas, you _are_ slow."

"Am not."

"This from the genius that gave the world 'Pearl is shiny.'"

"That was one time!" Nico protested.

"Idiocy, my daft friend, is a function of practice," Alexa quipped.

"You know what? _Fuck you_."

"It doesn't do to dwell with dreams, Nicolas, and forget to live," she said cunningly.

"You stole that. Get your own material, Prom Queen," he accused.

Alexa tapped her book. It was the first Harry Potter book. Nico closed his window with a huff. He didn't miss the smug smirk that danced across Alexa's lips as he did so. He decided to let that one go... for now.

"Well, that was maddeningly unhelpful," he grumbled, flopping onto his bed.

Alexa's penchant for melodramatics pissed him the hell off. Screw her appearance; she was _nothing_ like Bianca. Bianca was all sweet smile and soft words; Alexa was all arrogant smirks and caustic quips. Bianca was warmth and home; Alexa was alien and annoying. They were as different as two people could be, personality wise. Really, it was almost an insult to Bianca that Alexa so closely resembled her. His sister, an angel on earth, was masquerading in guise of wicked she-devil, and she lived next door.

Damn her. Damn her and her uncanny resemblance to his sister.

It occurred to him that he was no longer upset with his father. Instead, he was upset with Alexa, but not really. Her quips made him smile slightly; at least she was clever. At worst, she wasn't as banal as everybody else in this god forsaken ice box of a town. Hey, didn't scientists say that love and hate originated from the same part of the brain? Nico scoffed. Yeah, there was no way that he was _ever_ going to love Alexa. Over his dead body maybe, but surely not while he was conscious.

He wished that he could just hate Alexa. That would have made life infinitely easier. He didn't really know what he felt about her, but one thing was for certain: she confused the hell out of him. Screw girls and their goddamned mixed signals. It shouldn't be legal for a whole gender to that bipolar. Like, honestly, make up your mind!

"Hypocrite," Nico whispered to himself.

He wished that he could make up his mind. Satan help him; he was too tired for this shit.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Five months later and he updates. It's all good. I love the dialogue in this chapter; my favorite line was: "Fuck a nutritious breakfast." The chapter made me laugh as I wrote it, so I hope it made you all chuckle a bit. The focus is more so on the before part, so the other half is mostly just Alexa goodness - she's my favorite. I wish she was real #soulmates4lyfe. Haha, anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this! The ending kind of sucked but whatevs, man. I'll proof the chapter later. Follow, Favorite, and Review!**


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